Serenity
by Kathryn0505
Summary: Myka nearly drowns while she and Pete are investigating strange happenings. What happens next? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This idea came to me randomly and just wouldn't go away. I wish WH13 would come back soon! I miss it. =/ Any feedback is appreciated! Enjoy. (P.S. Obviously I don't own anything.)**

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Silence.

That is what she will remember when she looks back on this moment. The initial panic has worn off as the water rushes into her lungs, choking her. The wire wrapped around her leg no longer stings as it tethers her down like an anchor; the water no longer burns her with its coldness.

Time slows.

She knows she should feel worried, but all she feels is calm. She hears the blood rush in her ears and feels her heart straining in her chest, the only things keeping her grounded. Her eyes glaze over as she stares blankly ahead of her.

It feels like it has been hours, but she knows it cannot have been. Still, if Pete had seen where she had entered the water, he surely would have found her by now. Knowing that he is probably not going to come, she tries to make a move to release herself from the weight holding her down but cannot. She stops trying and waits. The silence meets her and she is soothed. She is lulled by it, and she knows that her consciousness is slowly slipping away from her.

The last thing she feels is an arm slipping around her, and being pulled upward.

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"Myka?! Myka?!" Pete shakes her, and then notices she's not breathing. He blows air into her lungs, and sighs with relief when she coughs up the water in her lungs and gasps a breath. Her hands fly up to grasp at his shirt as she tries in a panic to get more air.

"Myka, can you hear me?"

She nods weakly and lays back, still struggling to breathe. Pete goes to dial his phone but can't find it. He runs a few feet over to where he had dropped the Farnsworth earlier and gets Artie on the other end.

"Pete? You guys are finished already? Why are you wet?-"

"Artie, I need you to call an ambulance to the lake, now. I can't find my phone anywhere."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Just do it, Artie!" Pete snaps.

"I'm doing it now. What's happened?"

"Myka got pulled in the lake by that thing and almost drowned."

"Is she okay?" Worry now fills Artie's voice.

"I think so, but she… She was under for a pretty long time."

"How long?"

"Three, maybe four minutes."

"Pete, you need to make sure she gets checked out at the hospital. Being underwater that long could have damaged her lungs."

"That's kind of why I wanted the paramedics here!" Pete nearly yells. The adrenaline he felt is still pumping, and he is quickly losing patience. A few minutes pass as Artie is silent and Pete walks back over to where Myka is laid out.

"They're here! Artie, I'm going with her."

"Okay, keep me posted." Pete doesn't even reply as he snaps the Farnsworth shut. He meets the paramedics as they come up and and answers their rapid-fire questions.

"What's her name?"

"Myka," Pete answers.

"Myka, can you hear us?" they question her. Satisfied as she rasps out a weak "yes," they load her into the ambulance and wave Pete inside. He moves so quickly he might have flown inside the ambulance, and they close the doors quickly behind him, sirens whirring.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I tried to keep their bickering in-character. I really don't know where I'm going with this, I'm just gonna go with what feels most likely for their characters. Enjoy!**

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"Myka, you're kidding me, right? I mean, really? Really?"

"Yes, Pete, really. Now could you please stop talking so loudly?" Myka took the clipboard that the nurse held out to her and signed her name.

"You've only been here for a few hours. You should at least stay overnight," Pete tried to reason with her.

"We've already been over this. I'm fine. I want to go back to the hotel."

"Myka, you nearly died!"

"Well I'm not dead now, so can you just drop it?" she snapped. "I am going back to the hotel with or without you."

Pete sighed, knowing that this was a battle he just wasn't going to win. "Fine, I'm coming with you."

The Farnsworth just then decided to buzz. "What is it, Artie?" Pete sighed, turning away from Myka as she signed the last of the paperwork.

"What do you mean? 'What is it, Artie?' The last I heard from you Myka nearly drowned and I was calling paramedics. How is she?"

"Well, she's back to her normal, pleasant self, so I'd say she's great!" Pete turned to look at her over his shoulder and caught her glare.

"What did the doctors say?" Artie continued.

"That she seems to be fine, but there's always a risk of some permanent damage. They wanted to keep her overnight but she's signing herself out against medical advice."

"She shouldn't do that."

"Gee, thanks, Artie, why didn't I think that?" Pete was getting seriously frustrated with both of them at this point. "We're going to go back to the hotel."

"Okay, just let me know what's going on. Did you get the artifact?"

"No. I mean, she might not always be the easiest to get along with, but I though she was more important than the artifact at that particular moment." This time it was Pete's turn to glare at her for being difficult.

"Right, right, okay. You guys have had a rough night, I'll talk to you later."

"Gotcha." Pete snapped the Farnsworth shut and went back over to Myka. "Ready to go?"

"Yes. Definitely."

"Okay, let's go." He helped her up out of the bed and down the hall, out of the hospital entrance to where a cab was waiting.

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"You okay?" Pete asked. "You seem quieter than normal." That was the understatement of the century. He had noticed that she would seem fine as long as he spoke to her first or annoyed her first, but she wouldn't talk unless he started it.

"I'm exhausted. I just want to go to sleep." She leaned her head against the window of the cab and stared absently out the window.

"Myka?" Pete questioned. "Myka, hey Myka, look at me."

"What, Pete?" she grumbled, but listened to his request anyway.

"Nothing, you just- you were freaking me out right there."

Myka gave him a questioning look but didn't comment. Pete knew she must think him at least a little odd, but if he were completely honest her look out the window had reminded him of earlier in the water; her eyes were open, staring ahead, but somehow not seeing, blank, like she was-

"Myka?" he asked again, trying to get the images out of his head.

"Pete," she whined, but closed her eyes as she leaned back on the cold glass of the window.

"Nevermind, sorry." Pete turned his gaze to his window and watched the buildings go by, knowing that it was going to be a very long night.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I have a tendency to write short but frequently posted chapters. I hope that doesn't bother any one too much. And I know you guys must be feeling the WH13 withdrawals as much as I am, so give me something here and review! Even if it's just one word. =] **

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"Pete, what are you doing?" Myka groaned.

"I'm coming with you," he replied, waiting as she opened the door to her hotel room.

"I don't need you to babysit me, Pete."

"Myka, it's bad enough that you signed yourself out AMA. I'm not leaving you alone by yourself right now. If you don't like it, I will drag you kicking and screaming back to the hospital and you can let the nurses babysit you." Seriously, Pete was getting frustrated beyond all belief at this point. The last few hours hadn't been bad enough with Myka nearly dying, now she had to make it even more difficult for him. He knew it was slightly irrational, but he was afraid she was more injured than they thought and that she would suddenly stop breathing in her sleep or something. This was simply not a fight she was going to win.

Myka eyed him, deciding how serious he was. "Fine," she finally conceded. "But I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed."

"Coolio, I'm ready to hit the hay, too."

Myka finally opened her door and allowed him to follow her in. She immediately made her way over to her suitcase, grabbed some pajamas, and headed to the bathroom to change.

"I'm going to get some stuff from my room. I'll be back," she heard Pete call through the door. She didn't reply, instead gazing at herself in the mirror.

She looked an absolute mess. Her naturally curly hair had dried in some places but not others and had begun to tangle. Her makeup from earlier was smudged. She felt dirty from the lake water but knew she was definitely not ready to have any more up-close experiences with water and decided to take a shower in the morning. She quickly took her clothes off, washed her face, and put her pajamas on, ready to collapse in her bed.

She wondered vaguely at her calmness. Not fours hours ago she had been trapped at the bottom of a lake, and yet now her only thoughts were of sleeping the rest of the night away in peace. She decided that she was fine, and that she was just too tired to think at the moment.

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Unfortunately for Pete, he was having the opposite problem. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. Myka had been next to him, and then she was just gone. He remembered the panic he felt not knowing where she'd gone, then realizing that she must have gone into the lake. Waiting a few seconds for her to surface. The full-blown hysteria when she didn't appear. He recalled the adrenaline pumping as he jumped in to find her, the complete panic when he couldn't. His subconscious counting how long it had been, passing two minutes, three minutes. Each passing second making it less likely he would find her alive, if he even found her at all.

Pete banged his fist on the countertop, trying to will the images away. He quickly took his clothes off and jumped in the shower, making sure that he was quick enough to leave Myka alone for the least amount of time possible. She was probably fine, but it was necessary for his sanity that he be with her as much as possible to stop the worry he could already feel forming.

He got out of the shower and dried himself off, already dressing to make his way back to her room. He looked at the time on the clock. It had only been four minutes. Such a short amount of time now, when earlier it had seemed like hours.

He made his way down the hall and lightly knocked on Myka's door, more out of courtesy than anything as he opened it and went in without waiting for a response. Myka was already in the bed, fast asleep. He sat next to her on the bed, not knowing what else to do. Her breathing showed a deep, steady rhythm, indicative of a peaceful sleep.

He was glad one of them would sleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This might actually be the shortest update in human history, but I wanted to get something up. I'll post more soon. I owe a huge thank you to pattersk, Ninja Bagel, molly1006, Ollie, and for reviewing. I really appreciate it! =]**

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Pete woke up slowly, trying his best to open his eyes and rejoin the land of the conscious. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep at all, but he figured that at a certain point his body was just too exhausted and the need to sleep overcame his worry.

He heard a buzz and felt Myka stirring next to him. He looked across the room and noticed the Farnsworth vibrating it's way off of the table. He sat up and looked at the clock. 9:30. Much later than their normal time.

"Go get that," he heard Myka mutter. He was surprised that's all she had to say considering she had just woken up with him in the same bed as her, but he pushed back those thoughts and got out of the bed to get the Farnsworth.

"Pete!" The tiny head of Artie yelled. "What have you guys been doing? This is the third time I've tried."

"We've been asleep. We're tired. You just woke us up."

"How is everything? Any change since yesterday? How's Myka holding up?"

"She's fine. She's right here."

"Put her on."

Pete handed the device to Myka. "He wants to be graced by your presence."

Myka gave him a look and took it from his hand. "Hey, Artie," she grated out.

"Are you okay? The only updates I've been getting are from Pete," he replied.

"Throat hurts a little, but I'm fine," Artie heard her respond, along with a low, "My updates are fabulous," from Pete.

"Artie, we didn't get the artifact," Myka continued. "It's probably in the water, too. I think Maurice had it when he knocked me in and went into the water."

"Yeah, Lizard Boy definitely had it," Pete cut in. "But he could be anywhere by now."

"I know. I'm going to arrange for a search of the lake, but that may be all we can do at this point. If it's not in the lake, then we'll have to wait for him to appear in another city."

"That could be years from now," Myka complained.

"Probably, but I can't trace either the artifact or Maurice, so that's our only option. Stay there for the day and we'll see if we can find the artifact. Either way, you both can fly back tonight."

"Alright, we got it. We'll wait for the divers." Pete waved goodbye and shut the Farnsworth.

"So, what are we going to do till then?" Pete looked down at her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Another chapter! I noticed that no one's been adding any stories lately. We should all write one! We could all do some sort of organized thing where someone posts a story on their day and we could rotate, that way there would be a new one every day. PM me if you're interested, I'd do a day. Anyway, enjoy and please review! **

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Pete watched Myka carefully. They'd been on the plane for several hours, and she'd barely spoken more than a couple sentences to him. He'd been concerned all day, and her current staring out the window was not helping.

He decided to just ask her what was up. "Myka?" She turned around from the window and glanced at him. "Are you alright?" A nod. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Really? Because you've been staring out of that window the whole flight and it's not like there's even a view of anything," he doubtfully replied.

"Yeah, Pete, I'm fine." She gave him a weak smile and went back to looking out the window.

He didn't believe her, but he could tell she didn't really want to talk. Still, he felt the need to fill the silence.

"Myka? I-," he failed. He hadn't thought of anything to say before he'd started talking. She gave him an odd look, but nevertheless looked intrigued by his tone. "I just… I know we don't… I'm glad you stayed at the warehouse. Even though you could have returned to DC."

"I'm glad, too, Pete." She looked at him for a moment longer, trying to read what he wasn't saying. Apparently satisfied, she turned her gaze away from him and looked at nothing, lost in thought.

Frustrated with his lack of communication skills, Pete leaned his head back against his chair and held in a sigh. The truth was he was glad she had stayed, even if he hadn't really liked her at first. But the incident from the day before had shaken him, and her distance scared him, made him feel like something really had changed. He hoped the feeling would pass. Soon.

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Myka kept staring ahead, not really seeing. She was too lost in thought.

Pete didn't know it, but she knew what he wasn't saying. She knew that he was still frightened from yesterday, that he was thrown by what had happened. They found themselves in dangerous situations on a near-daily basis, yet yesterday was different. That was much more serious and much more of a close call than either of them had had in… the months since Pete had nearly been electrocuted in his effort to get the spine off.

Myka glanced at Pete, who was also absorbed in his thoughts and didn't notice. She felt bad that she was worrying him, but she just didn't want to talk about it. She wasn't sure how she felt about it yet.

She reached over to him and put her hand on his in an effort to convey to him what she didn't know how to say. _I'm still here_. She hoped it would help to lessen his worry.

He glanced at her in surprise, looking at her searchingly. He squeezed her hand and added his other to the top.

He didn't let go.

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"Ah, home sweet home," Pete commented, dragging their suitcases behind him as Myka held open the door of the B&B. "It's nice to be back."

"Even though we didn't get the artifact."

"We'll get it eventually. We just don't have to do it today," Pete cheered. He was glad to be back and off of that chase. He needed some time to get his head on straight, and inventory would be the perfect low-stress task to do it with.

"I guess," Myka sighed.

"Hello, guys," Leena came in. "I saved some food for you both in the kitchen if you're hungry."

"Thanks, Leena," Myka told her, "but I think I'm just going to head to bed."

"It's 9 o'clock," Pete observed.

"The flight made me tired," she told him. "Can I have my suitcase?"

"No. I'll bring it up for you," Pete told her. "No, you can't take it yourself. Let me be nice," he added, sensing an argument.

"Okay, thanks," she conceded.

Leena noted the exchange with interest but didn't comment. "Goodnight, Myka," she added, heading back towards the kitchen.

Myka told her goodnight and headed up the stairs, Pete following behind.

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"Ooooh meatloaf. Thank you, Leena." Pete pulled the leftover food from the fridge and put it in the microwave.

"You're welcome, Pete." She continued washing the dishes but kept him in her peripheral vision. He looked out of sorts.

He drummed his fingers on the counter and twice looked at her as if about to say something. The microwave beeped and he pulled out his food.

Sitting down at the table, Pete finally gave in to his curiosity. "So, how is she?"

"What do you mean?" Leena asked.

"Oh come on, you have those cool powers. How is she? Does her aura look different? Does it glow differently or something?" Leena noticed just how desperately he wanted to know and felt a surge of sympathy.

"It looks different, but give her time," she told him. "It's not surprising considering what happened."

He slumped over his plate a bit and let out a breath. "Yeah, I guess."

"Yours looks different, too," she told him.

"Yeah, I figured," he replied. "What does it tell you?"

"It'll be fine, Pete. Thing will go back to normal," Leena promised, hoping to put some of his fears to rest.

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"They're not doing well," Leena confessed to Artie.

"What do you mean? Pete and Myka? Why not? What's wrong?" Artie asked in a series of distracted questions. He glanced up briefly from his work but quickly returned his gaze to the old-fashioned computer in front of him.

"Their auras look different. Very different."

"So? That's to be expected. They'll be okay in a few days," Artie stated with conviction.

"I don't know. These don't look like the kinds of changes that'll just disappear." Leena sat beside him.

"Why? How are they different?" Artie asked, finally listening.

"They're, well, different. Pete looks more anxious and upset, which I'm not worried about. But Myka?..."

"What's wrong with hers?" Concern filled his tone.

"Well, she looks like she's handling it better than he is, but she's not. Her aura just looks completely depressed. It's just dark."

"Well, we can't do anything about it. They'll have to work it out," Artie decided.

"But what if they don't?" Leena asked.

"Look, give them some time. I'm not getting involved unless it starts to interfere with their work."

Leena frowned but nodded, wondering if they would ever talk to each other. She had a feeling this was going to take longer than Artie thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know it has been a ton of time since I updated this, but I got the loveliest review from carlycarter last night and thought that I should continue it. Thank you so much for your reviews, carlycarter, they are so nice! I promise to keep updating this if you continue to update 'This is goodbye.' Everyone's reviews mean a lot to me. =]**

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Myka quickly entered her room and shut the door behind her. She looked around, desperately wishing that she could do anything else than what lay ahead of her. But unfortunately she found nothing to tidy nor anything else to do, so she grabbed her pajamas and made her way to the bathroom that linked her room and Pete's.

She grabbed her shampoo out of her cabinet and contemplated whether she wanted to shower or take a bath. If she were honest with herself, both choices sounded horrible. But she knew it might take her a while before she could do either like a normal person, and no one would question someone who takes a long bath, but they would most definitely worry if her shower ran long.

Myka shuffled about the bathroom, trying to avoid Pete's clutter. It may have been odd that they shared a bathroom as Claudia or Leena might have been the more obvious choice, but Leena had her own and Pete had already cluttered up his room when Claudia joined the team, making switching inadvisable. Therefore, she was unfortunately stuck being Pete's bathroom partner. She gathered her things, smiling to herself as she thought of the number of times she had to bang on the door when Pete's singing in the shower got even more loud and off-key than normal.

She started the water and waited until it got hot and filled the tub to a decent level. She stripped off her clothing and stepped in, holding onto the edge for balance as she slowly sank down into the water. She took a moment to inhale deeply before she began to wash her skin and hair from the filth of the lake water.

For the first time in the last twenty-four hours, Myka's mind drifted and settled upon the happenings of the day before at the lake. It had been terrifying at first, but then it was something else. Suspended there in the water, watching as the world slowed and nearly came to a stop before Pete wound his arms around her and pulled her to the surface… It had been peaceful, in a way she had never known was possible.

Washing done, Myka pondered for a moment. Things had been hectic since Sam had died. Hectic and painful, and then she had been rushed to the warehouse and thrown into the mix there. The fact was, she could not remember a time when things had been peaceful and joyful, and that thought frightened her.

With these thoughts in mind, Myka let go of the rim of the tub and sank down so that her face was even with the water. Taking in a deep breath, she sank under the water completely. Myka counted in her head to a minute before she could no longer hold her breath and rose to the surface.

She was disappointed. Whatever truth she had found in that water at the lake was just out of her grasp. All she felt was the sloshing of water in the tub. It seemed that that peace would forever elude her, would just be a brush against her fingertips as she tried in vain to reach for it.

Pete would kill her if he knew what she had just done. Like he wasn't worried enough, she had to go and act so strangely. Even though he didn't know about it, she couldn't help the zing of guilt that went through her. Remorseful, she stepped out of the bath and dried herself off with the towel, quickly getting dressed before she made her way back into her room.

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Pete sat on the edge of his bed as he strained to hear through the door to the bathroom. As soon as he'd heard the water start to run, he'd made some excuse about being tired and nearly run up the stairs. Now he'd just been sitting, waiting on the other side of the door in case something was wrong with Myka.

But she appeared to be fine. He heard no strange sounds, no alarming crying. To the outside observer, she was alright. And to Pete, that was what was more alarming than anything. Because he wasn't at all okay, and he didn't think she was either.

He sighed and leaned back until his back touched the bed. Tomorrow they would be back to their normal warehouse activities, and the incident at the lake would just be a memory that would continue to haunt him. They would never mention it again, and it would become some source of pain and anxiety that they didn't mention but lay suspended in the air between them, as an insect in amber.

As much as he wanted to mention it, he understood that Myka just wanted to move on. He already knew without a doubt that he would do what she wanted.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I've been to the lake where this chapter takes place. It's beautiful. We went kayaking in it and you can see the Arenal volcano from the water. **

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Myka and Pete sat at breakfast the next morning, eating their food in what was mostly a companionable silence. Leena shuffled about the kitchen, moving about pans and plates, and soon Claudia bounded in to join them.

"Myka!" Claudia enthused. She came up to stand beside where she was sitting. "Stand up!"

"Why?" Myka asked, but nevertheless complied with her request, standing slowly.

"Because," Claudia drew her into a tight hug, "I'm glad you're not dead, duh. You went to your room too early last night, I hadn't even come back from the warehouse yet."

"Sorry, I was tired," Myka explained, being released from Claudia's clutches.

"Well, dude, next time you have a close call, at least wait until I see you!" Claudia finally stepped around the table and took a seat in front of her plate and began to dig in.

"So, peeps, what has Scrooge got us doing today? Inventory? Something more fun?"

"No, actually," Artie said as he walked into the room. "We got a lucky break. We might have found Maurice."

"Already?" Pete asked. Myka just sat there, her heart sinking in her chest as she realized that this wasn't nearly over yet.

"Yes. There have been some strange sightings in Costa Rica of a 'lake monster,'" Artie explained. "Looks like you guys are going to have to head down there."

"Wait," Pete said, "I thought this artifact turned you into the Loch Ness monster. That's why we were in Scotland. Why is it in Costa Rica?"

"I said that it made you a lake monster _such as_ the Loch Ness monster. Not necessarily the Loch Ness monster. It seems that a lot of these appearances around the world are caused by the same artifact, not several different creatures. It was a coincidence that the last happened to be in Scotland."

"Got it. So, when do we leave?" Pete sighed.

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"Thank you for your help," Myka was telling the local police. "We've heard that there are some strange things going on around here. Could you tell us about that?"

The Costa Rican looked out over the lake. "A few of the tourists reported seeing some large animal in the lake. It scared them."

"Couldn't it just be some kind of… big river otter or something?" Pete asked.

"No," the man said. "This creature was very large. And Lake Arenal is manmade; there are no such creatures in the lake. If we don't find out what this is, we're going to have trouble. Tourists won't feel safe in the water anymore."

"Thank you for your help, we're just going to take a look around," Myka told him, and the man wandered over to talk with some other people visiting the lake.

"So, what's the plan?" Pete asked. "Just hang around until he shows up again?"

"I guess that's the only thing we can do. We should get the cameras in case we see him, but I don't think that will happen until nighttime."

"Cameras? Becoming a tourist, are we?" Pete teased.

"No, Artie's cameras. Do you actually listen to anything Artie tells us? If we get a shot with the cameras it will turn the creature back into Maurice so we can grab the artifact."

"Oh. Right. I actually do remember that, I just didn't put it together. Oooooooh," Pete realized. "No wonder no one can ever get a picture of the creature as proof. You only hear stories. It's because it can't let itself be photographed."

"Right," Myka rolled her eyes, not believing this was just now becoming clear to him. "Come on, let's start the trek back up the hill to get the cameras."

That was the one horrible thing about Costa Rica. As beautiful as it was, it was full of hills and mountains that made driving almost impossible unless you knew the area. They'd even had to stop once as Pete had gotten carsick from the hills.

"How are we going to get rid of the cop?" Pete whispered, struggling to keep up with Myka's brisk pace.

"I guess we'll just have to convince him to help us. It's not like we can drive through all of the hills. We need him. Plus he knows this area and the people."

"I guess," Pete agreed. "I'd really like for us to not be driving around this place in the dark. We'd go careening off the side of a cliff. So we need him to drive. Plus, maybe he can get a boat and take us out on the water tonight."

"Maybe. I doubt Maurice has control of himself right now. Remember, Artie said something about mentally becoming the creature as well, so it's not like we're trying to find someone who doesn't want to be found."

"Right, we're just trying to find a big lake critter that could eat us… but don't worry, it's just a big dumb giant. That makes me feel better."

Myka rolled her eyes, and walked faster, laughing a bit to herself as she heard Pete behind her: "Hey, wait up!"


End file.
